pressio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈprɛs.si.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛs.si.o]^[1]

Forms

pressiō f (genitive pressiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from premō “to press” (supine ⟨pressum⟩) with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨premō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *pr-es- (“to press”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Caesar, whom he dates about 50 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was pressure, a pressing down, weight, and the fulcrum of a lever, as in Vitruvius, and Lewis & Short find it literally only in Vitruvius.^[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was pressure, distress, oppression, affliction, persecution.^[7] It survives in Italian pressione and Spanish presión.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it.^[4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of pressure.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Pressure, a pressing down.^[2]
2. The fulcrum of a lever.^[6]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Distress, oppression.^[7]

Related words

• pressim
• pressō
• pressōrius
• pressulē
• pressulus
• pressūra
• pressus
• premō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson